Women Authors Signed First Edition Catalogue

Women Authors
Signed First Edition Catalogue
This catalog represents a small portion of a large collection of novels, short stories, and
poetry by women authors that we will be working through over the next six months.
Most are signed first edition copies, hence the title of the catalog. A number of titles,
though, are either not signed or not first editions, but are included due to their relation
to the collection as a whole, or to underscore differences between first editions and
subsequent versions (e.g., Silko’s Laguna Woman).
Many authors included here are represented in much greater depth in the rest of the
collection (e.g., Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Walker). In the interest of presenting a list of a
manageable size, which still constitutes a representative cross-section of the collection,
we selected roughly five dozen items that we consider particularly significant, scarce, or
compelling. There are still over 900 other volumes to sort through, but we do have a
complete list of what the collection includes, so we encourage you to contact us to
inquire about similar material.
Terms of Sale
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through our website. Payment is expected at the time of your order and may be made
by check, credit card, or PayPal direct transfer. Institutions, fellow booksellers, and
repeat customers may request to pay on invoice, with payment due upon receipt unless
other arrangements have been made prior to purchase. All items are guaranteed to be as
described with respect to edition, condition, and authenticity. Returns will be accepted
for any reason, though we ask that you provide notice within a reasonable timeframe.
Our usual trade courtesies extended (please inquire).
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Catalogs
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Yesterday's Muse Bookstore
32 W Main Street
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yesterdays.muse@gmail.com
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Women Authors Signed First Editions Catalog
1. Allende, Isabel; Bogin, Magda The House of the Spirits. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf. 1985. First Edition. 368 pp. 8vo. First book by the author of Daughter of Fortune
and Portrait in Sepia. Inspiration for the 1993 film starring Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep,
Glenn Close, Winona Ryder, Antonio Banderas, and Vanessa Redgrave. "A best seller and
critical success all over the world, The House of the Spirits is the magnificent epic of the
Trueba family -- their loves, their ambitions, their spiritual quests, their relations with one
another, and their participation in the history of their times, a history that becomes destiny
and overtakes them all. We begin -- at the turn of the century, in an unnamed South
American country -- in the childhood home of the woman who will be the mother and
grandmother of the clan, Clara del Valle. A warm-hearted, hypersensitive girl, Clara has
distinguished herself from an early age with her telepathic abilities -- she can read fortunes,
make objects move as if they had lives of their own, and predict the future. Following the
mysterious death of her sister, the fabled Rosa the Beautiful, Clara has been mute for nine
years, resisting all attempts to make her speak. When she breaks her silence, it is to announce that she will be married
soon. Her husband-to-be is Esteban Trueba, a stern, willful man, given to fits of rage and haunted by a profound
loneliness. At the age of thirty-five, he has returned to the capital from his country estate to visit his dying mother and to
find a wife. (He was Rosa's fiance, and her death has marked him as deeply as it has Clara.) This is the man Clara has
foreseen -- has summoned -- to be her husband; Esteban, in turn, will conceive a passion for Clara that will last the rest
of his long and rancorous life. We go with this couple as they move into the extravagant house he builds for her, a
structure that everyone calls 'the big house on the corner,' which is soon populated with Clara's spiritualist friends, the
artists she sponsors, the charity cases she takes an interest in, with Esteban's political cronies, and, above all, with the
Trueba children... their daughter, Blanca, a practical, self-effacing girl who will, to the fury of her father, form a lifelong
liaison with the son of his foreman... the twins, Jaime and Nicolas, the former a solitary, taciturn boy who becomes a
doctor to the poor and unfortunate; the latter a playboy, a dabbler in Eastern religions and mystical disciplines... and, in
the third generation, the child Alba, Blanca's daughter (the family does not recognize the real father for years, so great is
Esteban's anger), a child who is fondled and indulged and instructed by them all. For all their good fortune, their natural
(and supernatural) talents, and their powerful attachments to one another, the inhabitants of 'the big house on the
corner' are not immune to the larger forces of the world. And, as the twentieth century beats on... as Esteban becomes
more strident in his opposition to Communism... as Jaime becomes the friend and confidant of the Socialist leader known
as the Candidate... as Alba falls in love with a student radical...the Truebas become actors -- and victims -- in a tragic
series of events that gives The House of the Spirits a deeper resonance and meaning. It is the supreme achievement of
this splendid novel that we feel ourselves members of this large, passionate (and sometimes exasperating) family, that
we become attached to them as if they were our own. That this is the author's first novel makes it all the more
extraordinary. The House of the Spirits marks the appearance of a major, international writer."
Condition Notes: First American edition. Signed by author without inscription, but with a sketch of a flower beneath the
signature, on front endpaper. Publisher's postcard laid in. (2196056) $150.00
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2. Alvarez, Julia Seven Trees: Limited Fine Press Edition. North Andover: Kat Ran
Press. 1998. First Edition. Unpaginated. Folio in publisher's clamshell case with
prospecuts. One of 65 copies, only 50 of which were available for sale. "Julia Alvarez and
Sara Eichner have worked separately to create the combined suite of poems and prints,
Seven Trees. This second offering from the Kat Ran Press is the first printing of Ms
Alvarez's most recent series of autobiographical poems. Each poem, like a growth ring on a
tree, represents a different stage of maturation and development in the poet's life... Sara
Eichner celebrates the intimate structures of trees from a more immediate standpoint. Ms
Eichner's lithographs, meticulously drawn with tusche washes, capture the inner forms of
trees...
... composed in the English Monotype cutting of Eric Gill's Perpetua at the Press and Letterfoundry of Michael and
Winifred Bixler, in Skaneateles, New York. From these types, Michael and Katherine Russem have carried out the
printing on papers handmade at the Velke Losiny mill in the Czech Republic. Ms Eichner's seven lithographs have been
printed on handmade Japanese papers by Herb Fox at his shop in Merrimac, Massachusetts, and carefully adhered to the
text sheets. Sixty-five books, consisting of 30, 11 1/4 x 16 inch leaves, have been bound by David Bourbeau in the studio
style of his Thistle Bindery. A decorative homage to both the poems and lithographs, each volume has been covered in a
handmade sheet of flax paper, laboriously dyed and re-dyed in a rich brown stain made from crushed walnut hulls. The
finished book is placed in a folding cloth presentation case by Barbara B. Blumenthal working in collaboration with the
Bindery. All colors, materials, and details have been carefully selected for their harmonious relations to the themes and
sentiments established by the poet and artist..."
Kat Ran Press began publishing and designing books in 1994, and is still in business today, despite the death of
Katherine Russem in 2009.
Condition Notes: Limited edition, hand numbered #35 on limitation page, and signed by Julia Alvarez and Sara Eichner.
Faint stain on rear panel of clamshell case. Original mailing envelope from Kat Ran Press containing a duplicate
prospectus laid in. (2195946) $2,250.00
3. Atwood, Margaret The Handmaid's Tale. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. 1985.
First Edition. 324 pp. 8vo. The classic dystopian novel by the Canadian author. Handmaid's
Tale won the Booker Prize, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Nebula Award, and the
Prometheus Award. Atwood has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times.
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. Minor
scuff to top board edge. (2196055) $250.00
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4. Chevalier, Tracy Girl with a Pearl Earring. London: Harper Collins. 1999. First
Edition. 248 pp. Inspiration for the motion picture starring Scarlet Johansson, Colin Firth,
Tom Wilkinson, and Cillian Murphy. "History and fiction merge seamlessly in this luminous
novel about artistic vision and sensual awakening. Girl with a Pearl Earring tells the story
of sixteen-year-old Griet, whose life is transformed by her brief encounter with genius ...
even as she herself is immortalized in canvas and oil." "Girl with a Pearl Earring is a novel
by Tracy Chevalier published in 1999. It takes place in Delft, Holland and it is the story of a
girl forced to become a maid because her father can no longer work. It was inspired by
Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and imagines the circumstances under which the
painting came to be created. It was adapted to a 2003 film of the same name." -- Wikipedia
Condition Notes: First edition in second state jacket (correction to 'Earring' on rear jacket
panel). Signed by author without inscription on title page. Pages toned, otherwise an
exceptional copy. (2196017) $175.00
5. Cisneros, Sandra The House on Mango Street. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1994.
First Thus. xx, 134 pp. 8vo. Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught
everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated
all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza
Cordero.
Told in a series of vignettes – sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes deeply joyous – it is the
story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago, inventing for herself who and what she
will become. Few other books in our time have touched so many readers. Condition Notes:
First thus - originally published 'in somewhat different form' in 1984 by Arte Publico Press,
and printed in paperback by Vintage Books in 1991. This is the first hardcover edition,
which includes a new introduction by the author. Signed by Sandra Cisneros without
inscription on title page. An exceptional copy. (2196002) $175.00
6. Dillard, Annie Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. New York: Harper's Magazine Press. 1974.
First Edition. 271 pp. 8vo. The Pulitzer Prize-winning work by the author whom The Boston
Globe called 'one of the most distinctive voices in American letters today.'
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. Board
edges slightly faded. DJ Condition Notes: Jacket a bit toned (as usual). (2196030)
$500.00
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7. Dillard, Annie The Weasel. Claremont, California: The Rara Avis Press. 1981. First
Edition. 271 pp. 8vo. An essay written the same year (1974) as the author's Pulitzer Prize
winning The Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, but not published individually until 1981. This edition
of 190 copies was printed and bound by Christine Bertelson and Ann Carroll in 1981. The
type is hand-set Stempel Palatino. Fabriano Ingres & Roma were used for the text and
cover papers with Dresden Ingres endsheets.
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on colophon. Softcover
in dust jacket. An exceptional copy. (2196160) $300.00
8. Dunn, Katherine Mystery Girls' Circus and College of Conundrum, Official
Route Book, Season of 1991. The M Kimberly Press. 1991. Limited Edition.
Unpaginated. Stab-sewn binding with brown and dark brown zebra pattern cloth, metallic
teal question mark on front board.
An unusual and elaborate production, published for the National Museum of Women in the Arts, as the 1991 Library
Fellows Artists' Book. 125 copies were printed, of which 25 were given to Dunn. From the remaining 100, a copy was
given to each member of the Library Fellows at the time, and the remaining copies were available for sale. Includes a
foldout lithograph printed at Ink On Paper, and type, linoleum and magnesium cuts printed at M Kimberly Press, where
the book was bound. Though it is not noted in the book, M Kimberly Press was founded by Mare Blocker (the illustrator
of this volume) in 1984. The book purports to be an 'official route book' giving the tour schedule of a circus, with diarystyle entries of events occurring throughout the tour, interspersed with Blocker's artwork, which explores various media.
According to Sandra Kroupa of Special Collections, Manuscripts and University Archives at University of
Washington, "Katherine and Mare did such a convincing job of evoking The Mystery Girls’ Circus that the library on the
East Coast, to be unnamed, that cataloged the book first, believed the Circus to be real and dutifully created real subject
headings for it." By the author of Geek Love.
Condition Notes: First edition, one of 125 copies. Signed by author and illustrator on frontispiece. Cover protected under
acetate jacket, which appears to have been added later. (2196054) $1,250.00
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9. Dunn, Katherine; Tejaratchi, Sean Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's
Scrapbook. Portland: Feral House. 1996. First Edition. 167 pp. A reproduction of a
detective's collection of crime scene photographs, issued in a deluxe hardcover edition that
includes a signed, numbered photograph. The strange and gruesome crime-scene snapshot
collection of LAPD detective Jack Huddleston spans Southern California in its noir
heyday. Death Scenes is the noted forerunner of several copycat titles. Condition Notes:
Photograph from the Black Dahlia murder included, signed and numbered 2/100 by
Katherine Dunn. An exceptional copy. (2195971) $500.00
10. Ehrlich, Gretel Geode / Rock Body. Santa Barbara: Capricorn Press. 1970. Limited
Edition.
34 pp. 8vo. The first published work by the poet, travel and nature writer, and essayist, who
won the Henry David Thoreau Award. A collection of poems, it was published when the
author was just 24 years old. This edition was limited to 600 copies, only 50 of which were
bound in cloth. Designed and printed by Noel Young in Santa Barbara, cover drawing by
Judy Daniel.
Condition Notes: Limited edition, #39 of 50. Signed by author without inscription and hand-numbered on limitation
page. Tiny sticker remnant on corner of front endpaper, otherwise an exceptional copy. (2196147) $750.00
11. Ehrlich, Gretel; Stryk, Lucien To Touch the Water. Boise: Ahsahta Press, Boise
State University. 1981. First Edition.
iv, 46 pp. A collection of poetry, by the travel and nature writer, and essayist, who won the
Henry David Thoreau Award. Includes an introduction by Lucien Stryk.
Condition Notes: First edition - a paperback original. Signed by author without inscription on title page. Tiny sticker
remnant on corner of front endpaper, otherwise an exceptional copy. (2196148) $250.00
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12. Esquivel, Laura Like Water for Chocolate. New York: Doubleday. 1992. First
Edition. 245, [1] pp. 8vo. Originally published in 1989 as 'Como agua para chocolate',
translated into English in 1992, and adapted to film in the same year. The motion picture
became the highest-grossing Spanish-language film released in the United States.
Condition Notes: First U.S. edition, released three years after the Spanish original. An
exceptional copy. (2196019) $125.00
13. Gilchrist, Ellen In the Land of Dreamy Dreams: Short Fiction. Fayetteville: The
University of Arkansas Press. 1981. First Edition. 167 pp. 8vo. Author's first collection of
short fiction, following the publication of two volumes of poetry. Includes fourteen stories.
Gilchrist later won the National Book Award for Victory Over Japan. Condition Notes: First
edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. An exceptional copy. (2196024)
$250.00
14. Gilchrist, Ellen Riding Out the Tropical Depression: Selected Poems, 19751985. New Orleans: Faust Publishing. 1986. First Edition. 20 pp. A collection of thirteen
poems written over a period of ten years, and printed here for the first (and only) time.
Designed and printed by Herb Yellin and Carl Bennett, binding by Marianna Blau.
Condition Notes: First edition. #215 of 300 copies released simultaneously with the deluxe
edition of 50 copies. Signed by author on half-title page, hand-numbered on limitation page.
Boards faintly discolored, very minor wave to pages. (2195978) $200.00
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15. Gilchrist, Ellen The Land Surveyor's Daughter: Poems (Lost Roads Number 14,
1979). Fayetteville, Arkansas: Lost Roads Publishing Company / White River Printers.
1979. First Edition.
46 pp. Author's first book. A collection of poetry by the author who won the National Book
Award for her 1984 short story collection Victory Over Japan. Gilchrist also studied under
the well-known writer Eudora Welty at Millsaps College.
Condition Notes: First edition - a paperback original. Signed by author without inscription on title page. An exceptional
copy. (2196149) $750.00
16. Gilchrist, Ellen Two Stories (Albondocani Press Publication No. 37). Worcester:
Albondocani Press. 1988. Limited Edition.
Unpaginated. Two stories, one previously unpublished and the other previously published
in a British magazine, by the author who won the National Book Award for her 1984 short
story collection Victory Over Japan. Gilchrist also studied under the well-known writer
Eudora Welty at Millsaps College. Includes Some Blue Hills at Sundown and The Man Who
Kicked Cancer's Ass. A fine press edition, set in Spectrum type, printed in two colors on
Antique Laid paper, and hand-sewn into a wrapper of French marble paper. Printed and
bound by William & Nancy Ferguson of Worcester, Massachusetts. Limited to 176 copies,
all signed by the author, of which 150 copies, numbered 1-150, are for sale. Originally
priced at $55.00.
Condition Notes: Limited edition, #70 of 176 copies (only 150 of which were for sale). Signed by author without
inscription and hand-numbered on limitation page. Publisher's prospectus laid in. An exceptional copy. (2196150)
$100.00
17. Hoffman, Alice Practical Magic. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1995. First Edition.
244 pp. 8vo. A novel centering around the practice of forbidden witchcraft, and the
inspiration for the 1998 film starring Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing,
Dianne Wiest, Aidan Quinn, and Goran Visnjic. Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by
author without inscription on title page. An exceptional copy. (2196058) $125.00
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18. Karr, Mary Abacus (Wesleyan New Poets Series). Middletown: Wesleyan
University Press. 1987. First Edition. 52, [2] pp. 8vo. First novel by the author of 'three
award-winning, bestselling memoirs: The Liars Club, which was a finalist for the National
Book Critics Circle Award; Cherry, which was selected as a notable book by book reviews
nationwide; and Lit, which was one of the New York Times Book Review's Ten Best Books
of the Year (and made virtually every other Best of the Year list) and a National Book
Critics Circle Award finalist. A Guggenheim Fellow in poetry, Karr has won Pushcart Prizes
for both verse and essays.' Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without
inscription on title page. (2196007) $300.00
19. Kingsolver, Barbara The Bean Trees. New York: Harper & Row. 1988. First
Edition. 232 pp. 8vo. Author's first book. "The Bean Trees is a book readers have taken to
their hearts. It is now a standard in college literature classes across the nation and has
been translated for a readership stretching from Japan to Romania. When it was first
published, however, its author was unknown. Word of mouth spread slowly among
booksellers, librarians, critics and readers with a passion to share their favorite books. In
The Bean Trees they found a spirited protagonist, Taylor Greer, who grew up in poor in
rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when Taylor
heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition
head-on. By the time she arrives in Tucson, she has acquired a completely unexpected child
and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting
down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the
discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places."
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. A few
tiny spots on top page ridge, jacket flaps a bit toned. (2196003) $150.00
20. Kingsolver, Barbara The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel. New York: Harper Flamingo.
1998. First Edition. 546 pp. 8vo. "The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four
daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to
the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need
from home, but soon find that all of it--from garden seeds to Scripture--is calamitously
transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic
undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial
Africa. The novel is set against one of the most dramatic political chronicles of the
twentieth century: the Congo's fight for independence from Belgium, the murder of its first
elected prime minister, the CIA coup to install his replacement, and the insidious progress
of a world economic order that robs the fledgling African nation of its autonomy. Against
this backdrop, Orleanna Price reconstructs the story of her evangelist husband's part in the
Western assault on Africa, a tale indelibly darkened by her own losses and unanswerable
questions about her own culpability. Also narrating the story, by turns, are her four daughters--the self-centered,
teenaged Rachel; shrewd adolescent twins Leah and Adah; and Ruth May, a prescient five-year-old. These sharply
observant girls, who arrive in the Congo with racial preconceptions forged in 1950s Georgia, will be marked in
surprisingly different ways by their father's intractable mission, and by Africa itself. Ultimately each must strike her own
separate path to salvation. Their passionately intertwined stories become a compelling exploration of moral risk and
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personal responsibility. Dancing between the dark comedy of human failings and the breathtaking possibilities of human
hope, The Poisonwood Bible possesses all that has distinguished Barbara Kingsolver's previous work, and extends this
beloved writer's vision to an entirely new level. Taking its place alongside the classic works of postcolonial literature,
this ambitious novel establishes Kingsolver as one of the most thoughtful and daring of modern writers."
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on half-title page. An exceptional copy. (2196037)
$225.00
21. Kingston, Maxine Hong Hawaii One Summer, 1978 [Hawaii]. San Francisco:
Meadow Press. 1987. Limited Edition. 52 pp. Watercolor woodcuts by Deng Ming-Dao,
including a fold-out frontispiece. From the limitation page: '... printed by Leigh McLellan
with assistance from Tracy Davis in Times New Roman types on Korean Kozo papers. The
title page lettering and text initials are drawn by John Prestiawnni, based on Times New
Roman italic. The text type is set by Mackenzie-Harris Corporation with hand refinements
by the printer. Tim Delgman helped with research and Laura Israel with proof-reading. 75
deluxe copies are bound by the printer in a split-board binding structure with exposed
sewing over tapes designed by Betty Lou Chaika. 75 regular copies are casebound in Davey boards. Both versions have
Gutenberg Laid end sheets, a Van Heek Brillianta cloth spine and are covered with a paste paper made by L. McLellan.
All copies are signed by the author, artist and printer. Klaus-Ullrich Roetzscher casebound the regular copies and made
the slipcases for the deluxe copies.'
'From the National Book Award-winning author of classics like THE WOMAN WARRIOR comes a stirring collection of
essays, celebrating memory, history, and island tradition.
In these eleven thought-provoking pieces... acclaimed writer and feminist Maxine Hong Kingston tells stories of Hawai'i
"piece by piece, and hope that the sum praises her." The essays provide readers with a generous sampling of Kingston's
signature: her exquisite angle of vision, her balanced and clear-sighted prose, and her stunning insight that awakens one
to a wealth of knowledge.'
Condition Notes: #50 of 75 deluxe copies, signed by Maxine Hong Kingston, Deng Ming-Dao, and Leigh McLellan and
hand-numbered on limitation page. Includes publisher's slipcase. An exceptional copy. DJ Condition Notes: Tiny
discoloration on one panel of slipcase. (2195964) $600.00
22. Leibovitz, Annie; Sontag, Susan Women. New York: Random House. 1999. First
Edition. 239, [9] pp. A collaboration by one of our generation's most well-known
photographers and the influential writer, critic, and social activist, who were also life
partners for the last 15 years of Sontag's life. Photographs by Leibovitz taken specially for
this book are paired with an essay by Sontag.
'The photographs by Annie Leibovitz in Women, taken especially for the book, encompass a broad spectrum of subjects:
a rap artist, an astronaut, two Supreme Court justices, farmers, coal miners, movie stars, showgirls, rodeo riders,
socialites, reporters, dancers, a maid, a general, a surgeon, the First Lady of the United States, the secretary of state, a
senator, rock stars, prostitutes, teachers, singers, athletes, poets, writers, painters, musicians, theater directors, political
9
activists, performance artists, and businesswomen. "Each of these pictures must stand on its own," Susan Sontag writes
in the essay that accompanies the portraits. "But the ensemble says, So this what women are now -- as different, as
varied, as heroic, as forlorn, as conventional, as unconventional as this."'
Condition Notes: Signed and dated (New York 2000) by Annie Leibovitz and Susan Sontag on title page. While copies
signed by Leibovitz are not rare, copies signed by both are much more difficult to find - Sontag died just 5 years after the
book's publication. First edition. Spine head & foot faintly pushed, otherwise an exceptional copy. (2195963) $750.00
23. McDermott, Alice A Bigamist's Daughter: A Novel. New York: Random House.
1982. First Edition. 282 pp. 8vo. First book by the author of Charming Billy, which won an
American Book Award and the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction.
Elizabeth Connelly, editor at a New York vanity press, sells the dream of publication (admittedly, to writers of
questionable talent). Stories of true emotional depth rarely cross her desk. But when a young writer named Tupper
Daniels walks in, bearing an unfinished novel, Elizabeth is drawn to both the novelist and his story―a lyrical tale about a
man in love with more than one woman at once. Tupper's manuscript unlocks memories of her own secretive father, who
himself may have been a bigamist. As Elizabeth and Tupper search for the perfect dénouement, their affair, too,
approaches a most unexpected and poignant coda.
A brilliant debut from one of our most celebrated authors, A Bigamist's Daughter is "a wise, sad, witty novel about men
and women, God, hope, love, illusion, and fiction itself" (Newsweek).
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. Board edges very slightly faded. DJ
Condition Notes: Jacket mildly toned. (2196025) $125.00
24. McMillan, Terry Mama. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1987. First Edition. 260
pp. 8vo. Author's first book.
"The explosive novel that introduced #1 New York Times bestselling author Terry McMillan. Terry McMillan is the
critically acclaimed and award-winning author of the novels Disappearing Acts, Waiting to Exhale, How Stella Got Her
Groove Back, and A Day Late and a Dollar Short, and the editor of Breaking Ice: An Anthology of Contemporary African-
10
American Fiction."
"Mama, a first novel, tells of a proud black woman, Mildred Peacock, and her five children. After a violent fight, Mildred
throws her drunken husband out of the house. On her own in the poor town of Point Haven, Michigan, Mildred scrimps
and drinks, works and goes on welfare, struggling to raise her kids and keep her sanity. Mildred's closest bond is to her
oldest daughter, Freda, and their lives parallel each other's progress from despair to hope." - Library Journal
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. DJ Condition Notes: Tiny closed tear to
jacket spine base. (2196022) $125.00
25. Morrison, Toni Beloved. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1987. First Edition. 275 pp. 8vo.
The Pulitzer Prize winning novel inspired by the true story of an American slave named
Margaret Garner, which inspired the film starring Oprah Winfrey.
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed without inscription by author on title page. An
exceptional copy. (2196038) $250.00
26. Munro, Alice Friend of My Youth: Stories. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. 1990.
First Edition. 273 pp. 8vo. A collection of stories by the Nobel Prize winning Canadian
author known for her short fiction. "The ten miraculously accomplished stories in Alice
Munro's Friend of My Youth not only astonish and delight but also convey the unspoken
mysteries at the heart of all human experience." Condition Notes: First edition. Signed
without inscription on title page. Top board edge a bit faded, spine head & foot lightly
pushed. (2195934) $150.00
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27. Munro, Alice Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories.
Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. 2001. First Edition. vii, 321, [1] pp. 8vo. A collection of
stories by the Nobel Prize winning Canadian author known for her short fiction. "In the her
tenth collection (the title story of which is the basis for the new film Hateship Loveship),
Alice Munro achieves new heights, creating narratives that loop and swerve like memory,
and conjuring up characters as thorny and contradictory as people we know ourselves.
A tough-minded housekeeper jettisons the habits of a lifetime because of a teenager’s
practical joke. A college student visiting her brassy, unconventional aunt stumbles on an
astonishing secret and its meaning in her own life. An incorrigible philanderer responds
with unexpected grace to his wife’s nursing-home romance. Hateship, Friendship,
Courtship, Loveship, Marriage is Munro at her best, tirelessly observant, serenely free of
illusion, deeply and gloriously humane." Condition Notes: First edition. Signed without
inscription on title page. An exceptional copy. (2195937) $150.00
28. Munro, Alice Open Secrets: Stories. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. 1994. First
Edition. 293, [1] pp. 8vo. A collection of stories by the Nobel Prize winning Canadian author
known for her short fiction. "In these eight tales, Munro evokes the devastating power of
old love suddenly recollected. She tells of vanished schoolgirls and indentured frontier
brides and an eccentric recluse who, in the course of one surpassingly odd dinner party,
inadvertently lands herself a wealthy suitor from exotic Australia. And Munro shows us how
one woman's romantic tale of capture and escape in the high Balkans may end up inspiring
another woman who is fleeing a husband and lover in present-day Canada." Condition
Notes: First edition. Signed without inscription on title page. Bottom corners lightly
pushed. (2195935) $150.00
29. Munro, Alice Runaway: Stories. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. 2004. First
Edition. 335 pp. 8vo. A collection of stories by the Nobel Prize winning Canadian author
known for her short fiction. "The incomparable Alice Munro’s bestselling and rapturously
acclaimed Runaway is a book of extraordinary stories about love and its infinite betrayals
and surprises, from the title story about a young woman who, though she thinks she wants
to, is incapable of leaving her husband, to three stories about a woman named Juliet and
the emotions that complicate the luster of her intimate relationships. In Munro’s hands, the
people she writes about–women of all ages and circumstances, and their friends, lovers,
parents, and children–become as vivid as our own neighbors. It is her miraculous gift to
make these stories as real and unforgettable as our own." Condition Notes: First edition.
Signed without inscription on title page. An exceptional copy. (2195938) $150.00
12
30. Munro, Alice Selected Stories. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. 1996. First
Edition. 545 pp. 8vo. A collection of stories by the Nobel Prize winning Canadian author
known for her short fiction. "This first-ever selection of Alice Munro's stories sums up her
genius. Her territory is the secrets that cackle beneath the facade of everyday lives, the
pain and promises, loves and fears of apparently ordinary men and women whom she
renders extraordinary and unforgettable." Condition Notes: First edition. Signed without
inscription on title page. An exceptional copy. (2195939) $150.00
31. Munro, Alice The Love of a Good Woman: Stories. Toronto: McClelland and
Stewart. 1998. First Edition. 293, [1] pp. 8vo. A collection of stories by the Nobel Prize
winning Canadian author known for her short fiction. "In eight new stories, a master of the
form extends and magnifies her great themes--the vagaries of love, the passion that leads
down unexpected paths, the chaos hovering just under the surface of things, and the
strange, often comical desires of the human heart.
Time stretches out in some of the stories: a man and a woman look back forty years to the
summer they met--the summer, as it turns out, that the true nature of their lives was
revealed. In others time is telescoped: a young girl finds in the course of an evening that
the mother she adores, and whose fluttery sexuality she hopes to emulate, will not sustain
her--she must count on herself.
Some choices are made--in a will, in a decision to leave home--with irrevocable and
surprising consequences. At other times disaster is courted or barely skirted: when a mother has a startling dream about
her baby; when a woman, driving her grandchildren to visit the lakeside haunts of her youth, starts a game that could
have dangerous consequences. The rich layering that gives Alice Munro's work so strong a sense of life is particularly
apparent in the title story, in which the death of a local optometrist brings an entire town into focus--from the
preadolescent boys who find his body, to the man who probably killed him, to the woman who must decide what to do
about what she might know. Large, moving, profound--these are stories that extend the limits of fiction. Condition Notes:
First edition. Signed without inscription on title page. An exceptional copy. (2195936) $150.00
13
32. Munro, Alice The Progress of Love: Stories. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.
1986. First Edition. 309 pp. 8vo. A collection of stories by the Nobel Prize winning
Canadian author known for her short fiction. A divorced woman returns to her childhood
home where she confronts the memory of her parents' confounding yet deep bond. The
accidental near-drowning of a child exposes the fragility of the trust between children and
parents. A young man, remembering a terrifying childhood incident, wrestles with the
responsibility he has always felt for his younger brother. In these and other stories Alice
Munro proves once again a sensitive and compassionate chronicler of our times. Drawing
us into the most intimate corners of ordinary lives, she reveals much about ourselves, our
choices, and our experiences of love. Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author
without inscription on title page. Pages and jacket flaps lightly toned, minimal wear to
spine head & foot, but all corners are sharp. (2195933) $150.00
33. Oates, Joyce Carol All the Good People I've Left Behind. Santa Barbara: Black
Sparrow Press. 1979. Limited Edition. 227 pp. 8vo. A collection of short stories by the
winner of the National Book Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the PEN/Malamud Award and
the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Lifetime Achievement, who was also nominated multiple
times for the Pulitzer Prize. Condition Notes: Limited deluxe edition, #6 of 50 copies,
released simultaneously with a cloth trade edition of 1000 copies, and a numbered, signed
hardcover edition of 300 copies. This deluxe version was handbound in boards by Earle
Gray. Signed by author and hand-numbered on limitation page. Includes acetate jacket and
publisher's slipcase. DJ Condition Notes: Slipcase edges faded. (2196059) $200.00
34. Oates, Joyce Carol Blue-Bearded Lover. Concord, New Hampshire: William B.
Ewert. 1987. Limited Edition. [10 ff.] Sewn printed wrappers. One of an edition of 100
copies handbound by John Kristensen, 74 of which were numbered and sewn into paper
wrappers (the version offered here), and 26 of which were lettered A-Z, hand-illuminated,
and bound in boards. All 100 copies were hand-numbered and signed by Joyce Carol Oates
and R.P. Hale on the limitation page.
"Joyce Carol Oates’ new angle on Charles Perrault’s well-known “Bluebeard.” This tale of a homicidal husband has been
the source of operas and other musical compositions, ballets, and films. Oates’ version is called “Blue-Bearded Lover,”
and is a first-person narrative by the latest of Bluebeard’s wives. Oates writes “In my variant of this fairy tale, the young,
beautiful, naïve bride is really not naïve, she is calculating and canny.”" - Selected Shorts
Condition Notes: Limited edition, #46 of 74. An exceptional copy. (2196060) $250.00
14
35. Oates, Joyce Carol By the North Gate. New York: The Vanguard Press, Inc.. 1963.
First Edition. 253 pp. 8vo. Author's first book. A collection of seven short stories that
launched the career of the prolific author, who has written over 40 books, many of which
won or were nominated for awards. Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author (full
name, not initials) without inscription on half-title page. An exceptional copy. DJ Condition
Notes: Very minimal rubbing along jacket edges. (2196023) $350.00
36. Oates, Joyce Carol Funland. Concord, New Hampshire: William B. Ewert, publisher.
1981. Limited Edition. Unpaginated. A fine press short story by the prolific, award-winning
American author, with an introduction by Oates. This limited edition of 110 copies -- 100
numbered copies in paper wrappers (the version offered here) and 26 lettered copies in
marbled boards -- was designed by C. Freeman Keith and printed letterpress on Mohawk
Letterpress paper from Monotype Plantin at The Stinehour Press, Lunenberg, Vermont. The
original wood engraving was printed directly from the block. All copies were bound by
Deborah Wender, Bookbinder, Salem, Massachusetts. The publisher, William B. Ewert of
Concord, New Hampshire, specialized in limited edition fine press material (mainly poetry
and broadsides) for nearly 25 years, and his efforts are memorialized at the University of
New Hampshire, which maintains an impressive collection of his work. Condition Notes:
Limited edition, #30 of 150. Signed by Joyce Carol Oates without inscription on limitation
page. Softcover in dust jacket. An exceptional copy. (2196152) $175.00
37. Oates, Joyce Carol Nightless Nights: Nine Poems. Concord, New Hampshire:
William B. Ewert, publisher. 1981. Limited Edition. 20 pp. A fine press collection of poetry
by the prolific, award-winning American author, including Homage to Virginia Woolf and
eight other poems. This limited edition of 126 copies -- 100 numbered copies in paper
wrappers (the version offered here) and 26 lettered copies in marbled boards -- was printed
in Monotype Van Dijck by Michael & Winifred Bixler, Boston. The publisher, William B.
Ewert of Concord, New Hampshire, specialized in limited edition fine press material
(mainly poetry and broadsides) for nearly 25 years, and his efforts are memorialized at the
University of New Hampshire, which maintains an impressive collection of his work.
Condition Notes: Limited edition, #33 of 100. Signed by Joyce Carol Oates without
inscription on limitation page. Softcover in dust jacket. An exceptional copy. (2196151)
$125.00
15
38. Oates, Joyce Carol The Miraculous Birth. Concord, New Hampshire: William B.
Ewert, publisher. 1986. Limited Edition. Unpaginated. A fine press poem about the birth of
Jesus Christ, by the prolific, award-winning American author, originally published in The
New York Times Magazine. This limited edition of 100 numbered copies, designed by John
Kristensen, includes original woodcuts by Mary Azarian printed directly from the blocks. It
was printed from Monotype Bembo on Lana Laid paper and handsewn in wrappers at the
Firefly Press, Somerville, Massachusetts in November, 1986. The publisher, William B.
Ewert of Concord, New Hampshire, specialized in limited edition fine press material
(mainly poetry and broadsides) for nearly 25 years, and his efforts are memorialized at the
University of New Hampshire, which maintains an impressive collection of his work.
Condition Notes: Limited edition, #45 of 100. Signed by Joyce Carol Oates and Mary
Azarian on limitation page. DJ Condition Notes: Faint stain to front panel of jacket.
(2196141) $175.00
39. Oates, Joyce Carol Will You Always Love Me?. Huntington Beach: James Cahill
Publishing. 1994. First Edition. 28 pp. A short story by the prolific, award-winning
American author. This first edition was limited to 75 numbered copies (the version offered
here) and 26 deluxe copies. Condition Notes: Limited edition, #60 of 75. Signed by Joyce
Carol Oates without inscription on limitation page. An exceptional copy. (2196156)
$60.00
40. Oates, Joyce Carol Will You Always Love Me?. Huntington Beach: James Cahill
Publishing. 1994. First Edition. 28 pp. A short story by the prolific, award-winning
American author. This first edition was limited to 75 numbered copies and 26 deluxe
copies (the version offered here). Condition Notes: Limited edition, one of 26 lettered
copies, this being Z. Signed by Joyce Carol Oates without inscription on limitation page. An
exceptional copy. (2196158) $125.00
16
41. Proulx, Annie Brokeback Mountain. London: Fourth Estate. 1998. First Edition. 58
pp. Inspiration for the award-winning 2005 film, adapted for the screen by Diana Ossana
and Larry McMurtry. The author won the Pulitzer Prize for her full-length novel The
Shipping News, which also inspired a motion picture. Condition Notes: First UK edition,
following its original publication in The New Yorker. Signed by author without inscription
on title page. An exceptional copy. (2196159) $75.00
42. Proulx, E. Annie Heart Songs and Other Stories. New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons. 1988. First Edition. 151, [1] pp. 8vo. Author's first book, composed of stories
originally published in Esquire, Ploughshares, and Harrowsmith. She later won the Pulitzer
Prize for The Shipping News.
'Before she wrote her Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller The Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx was already producing some
of the finest short fiction in the country. Here are her collected stories, including two new works never before
anthologized. These stories reverberate with rural tradition, the rites of nature, and the rituals of small-town life. The
country is blue-collar New England; the characters are native families and the dispossessed working class, whose
heritage is challenged by the neorural bourgeoisie from the city; and the themes are as elemental as the landscape:
revenge, malice, greed, passion. Told with skill and profundity and crafted by a master storyteller, these are lean, tough
tales of an extraordinary place and its people.'
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. DJ Condition Notes: Very minimal
scuffing to jacket corners. (2196011) $175.00
17
43. Proulx, E. Annie Postcards. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1992. First Edition.
308 pp. 8vo. Author's first novel, following a collection of short stories published four years
earlier.
'E. Annie Proulx's first novel, Postcards, winner of the 1993 Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction, tells the mesmerizing tale of
Loyal Blood, who misspends a lifetime running from a crime so terrible that it renders him forever incapable of touching
a woman.
Blood's odyssey begins in 1944 and takes him across the country from his hardscrabble Vermont hill farm to New York,
across Ohio, Minnesota, and Montana to British Columbia, on to North Dakota, Wyoming, and New Mexico and ends,
today, in California, with Blood homeless and near mad. Along the way, he must live a hundred lives to survive, mining
gold, growing beans, hunting fossils and trapping, prospecting for uranium, and ranching. In his absence, disaster befalls
his family; greatest among their terrible losses are the hard-won values of endurance and pride that were the legacy of
farm people rooted in generations of intimacy with soil, weather, plants, and seasons. Postcards chronicles the lives of
the rural and the dispossessed and charts their territory with the historical verisimilitude and writerly prowess of
Cather, Dreiser, and Faulkner. It is a new American classic.' Condition Notes: First edition. Inscribed & signed by author
without attribution on title page ('January, 1992 / Cold night in Boston. / E. Annie Proulx'). An exceptional copy.
(2196039) $225.00
44. Shange, Ntozake For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the
Rainbow is Enuf: A Choreopoem. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.. 1977. First
Thus.
xvi, 64 pp. 8vo. A collection of poetry that is 'a celebration of being black and being
woman.' Several of the works were originally presented as a performance piece by Shange
and others at Bacchanal in Berkeley, California, and eventually made its way to Broadway
in 1976. A smaller collection of poems (fourteen) included in the performance piece was
published by Shameless Hussy Press in 1975. This collection includes twenty poems, as
well as an introduction by the author explaining the development of the work from its
genesis in the poem 'One' (which is included in both editions).
“If there are shoulders modern African-American women’s literature stands upon they belong to Ntozake Shange, who
revolutionized theatre and literature with her iconic work for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the
rainbow is enuf in the 1970s. Any of us writing today are inheritors of her genius.” ―SAPPHIRE, AUTHOR OF PUSH
From its inception in California in 1974 to its highly acclaimed critical success at Joseph Papp’s Public Theater and on
Broadway, the Obie Award–winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf has excited,
inspired, and transformed audiences all over the country. Passionate and fearless, Shange’s words reveal what it meant
to be of color and female in the twentieth century. First published in 1975, when it was praised by The New Yorker for
18
“encompassing... every feeling and experience a woman has ever had,” for colored girls who have considered
suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be read and performed for generations to come. Here is a groundbreaking
dramatic prose poem written in vivid and powerful language that resonates with unusual beauty in its fierce message to
the world. “Extraordinary and wonderful... Ntozake Shange writes with such exquisite care and beauty that anyone can
relate to her message.” ―THE NEW YORK TIMES
Condition Notes: First hardcover edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. An exceptional copy.
(2196145) $75.00
45. Shange, Ntozake For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the
Rainbow is Enuf: A Choreopoem. San Lorenzo: Shameless Hussy Press. 1975. First
Edition.
[28 pp.] A collection of poetry that is 'a celebration of being black and being woman.'
Several of the works were originally presented as a performance piece by Shange and
others at Bacchanal in Berkeley, California, which eventually made its way to Broadway in
1976. This edition in printed wrappers was the first appearance of the poems in print,
preceding the Macmillan hardcover edition by two years. It also includes two illustrations
by Wopo Halup not included in the later edition.
“If there are shoulders modern African-American women’s literature stands upon they belong to Ntozake Shange, who
revolutionized theatre and literature with her iconic work for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the
rainbow is enuf in the 1970s. Any of us writing today are inheritors of her genius.” ―SAPPHIRE, AUTHOR OF PUSH
From its inception in California in 1974 to its highly acclaimed critical success at Joseph Papp’s Public Theater and on
Broadway, the Obie Award–winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf has excited,
inspired, and transformed audiences all over the country. Passionate and fearless, Shange’s words reveal what it meant
to be of color and female in the twentieth century. First published in 1975, when it was praised by The New Yorker for
“encompassing... every feeling and experience a woman has ever had,” for colored girls who have considered
suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be read and performed for generations to come. Here is a groundbreaking
dramatic prose poem written in vivid and powerful language that resonates with unusual beauty in its fierce message to
the world. “Extraordinary and wonderful... Ntozake Shange writes with such exquisite care and beauty that anyone can
relate to her message.” ―THE NEW YORK TIMES
Condition Notes: First edition - a paperback original. Signed by author without inscription opposite copyright page.
Spine slightly faded. (2196146) $75.00
19
46. Shields, Carol Intersect: Poems. Ottawa: The Borealis Press. 1974. First Edition. 59
pp. The second collection of poetry by the American-born Canadian author most well-know
for her Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Stone Diaries. Condition Notes: First edition - a
paperback original. Signed by author without inscription on title page. Wrappers slightly
toned. (2196154) $250.00
47. Shields, Carol Others. Ottawa: The Borealis Press. 1972. First Edition. 60 pp.
Author's first book. A collection of poetry by the American-born Canadian author most wellknow for her Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Stone Diaries. This work was never published
in the United States. Condition Notes: First edition - a paperback original. Signed by author
without inscription on title page. Handwritten postcard written to previous owner (in
different ink than the title page signature) signed by Shields and dated 29/5/02 laid in. An
interesting combination of early and late signatures - the author passed away in 2003.
(2196153) $500.00
48. Shields, Carol Susanna Moodie: Voice and Vision. Ottawa: The Borealis Press.
1977. First Edition. 81 pp. Carol Shields' critical examination of the work of Susanna
Moodie is divided into three chapters: Mrs. Moodie and the Complex Personality, Mrs.
Moodie and Sexual Reversal, Mrs. Moodie and the Social Structure. Following the text is a
bibliography that includes many works of interest to those studying Canadian literature.
Condition Notes: First edition - a paperback original. Signed by author without inscription
on title page. (2196155) $175.00
20
49. Silko, Leslie Marmon Ceremony. New York: Richard Seaver / The Viking Press.
1977. First Edition. 262 pp. 8vo. Author's first novel, following a volume of poetry published
three years earlier. 'Ceremony remains one of the most profound and moving works of
Native American literature—a novel that is itself a ceremony of healing. Masterfully
written, filled with the somber majesty of Pueblo myth, Ceremony is a work of enduring
power.'
Condition Notes: First edition in first issue jacket ('Some Comments on Leslie Silko' on rear
flap - the second issue replaces 'Leslie Silko' with 'Ceremony'). Signed by author without
inscription on title page. Minor fading to top board edge. DJ Condition Notes: Minimal wear
to jacket corners. (2196040) $300.00
50. Silko, Leslie Marmon Laguna Woman: Poems. Tucson: Flood Plain Press. 1994.
Second Edition. 45 pp. A reissue of the author's first collection of poetry, which was
originally released shortly after the publication of her popular short story The Man to Send
Rain Clouds. This edition was published in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the
work. Includes illustrations by the author, and a biographical note on the author following
the text, which features additional information not included in the original edition. Silko, a
Laguna Pueblo, was the first recipient of the MacArthur Foundation 'Genius' Grant, and is
widely acknowledged as an important force in the Native American Renaissance.
Condition Notes: Second edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. An
exceptional copy. (2196142) $200.00
51. Silko, Leslie Marmon Laguna Woman: Poems. Greenfield Center, New York: The
Greenfield Review Press. 1974. First Edition. 35 pp. The author's first collection of poetry,
released shortly after the publication of her popular short story The Man to Send Rain
Clouds. Includes illustrations by the author and Aaron Yava. The work was re-released on
its twenty-year anniversary, but without the Yava illustrations. Silko, a Laguna Pueblo, was
the first recipient of the MacArthur Foundation 'Genius' Grant, and is widely acknowledged
as an important force in the Native American Renaissance.
Condition Notes: First edition - a paperback original. Ink stamp inside rear wrapper, with
minimal transfer to final blank. (2196143) $400.00
21
52. Silko, Leslie Marmon Sacred Water: Narratives and Pictures. Tucson: Flood
Plain Press. 1993. Limited Edition. 77 pp. Shoestring bound in handmade wrappers by the
author. A collection of contemplative vignettes evocative of the American Southwest, paired
with black & white photographs. Silko, a Laguna Pueblo, was the first recipient of the
MacArthur Foundation 'Genius' Grant, and is widely acknowledged as an important force in
the Native American Renaissance.
Condition Notes: Limited edition, #185 of 750. Signed & dated (February 16, 1995, Tucson)
by author on title page. This edition was not signed upon publication, as evidenced by the
later date in the inscription. (2196144) $400.00
53. Silko, Leslie Marmon Storyteller. New York: Seaver Books. 1981. First Edition. 278
pp. 8vo. Author's first collection of short stories. Silko, a Laguna Pueblo, was the first
recipient of the MacArthur Foundation 'Genius' Grant, and is widely acknowledged as an
important force in the Native American Renaissance.
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. An
exceptional copy. (2196053) $125.00
54. Smiley, Jane Barn Blind. New York: Harper & Row. 1980. First Edition. 218 pp. 8vo.
Author's first book. 'The verdant pastures of a farm in Illinois have the placid charm of a
landscape painting. But the horses that graze there have become the obsession of a woman
who sees them as the fulfillment of every wish: to win, to be honored, to be the best. Her
ambition is the galvanizing force in Jane Smiley's first novel, a force that will drive a wedge
between her and her family, and bring them all to tragedy. Written with the grace and quiet
beauty of her Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel, A Thousand Acres, Barn Blind is a spellbinding
story on the classic American themes of work, love, and duty, and the excesses we commit
to achieve success.' Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on
title page. Top page ridge lightly foxed, minor discoloration to cover spine base. DJ
Condition Notes: Jacket flaps toned. (2196004) $200.00
55. Smiley, Jane The Life of the Body. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press / Espresso
Editions. 1990. Limited Edition. Unpaginated. Illustrated with six hand-colored linoleum
cuts by Susan Nees. From the limitation page: 'Handset in Jan van Krimpen's Romulus type
with Michelangelo display. Printed on dampened Johanna, a 75% rag, 25% esparto grass
paper, made in France. Designed by Allan Kornblum and printed on a Vandercook 219 by
Julia Druskin and Jill Mackenzie at Coffee House Press. Concertina binding and plexiglass
case designed and executed by Jill Jevne. Thanks to Joanne Von Blon for support of this
project. Of 170 copies signed by author and artist, this is 101.' Condition Notes: Limited
edition, #101 of 170. Signed by author and artist on limitation page. Includes plexiglass case with a charming ribbon
closure at the fore-edge. DJ Condition Notes: Minimal scuff to rear panel of case. (2195965) $500.00
22
56. Smith, Lee The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed. New York: Harper & Row.
1968. First Edition. 180 pp. 8vo. Author's first novel.
"That whole summer is as clear and as still in my head as the corsage under the glass bell in Mrs. Tate's parlor. Even
now, summers and summers since, I can remember everything. I remember the day summer started."
So begins Lee Smith's disarming first novel, written while she was an undergraduate at Hollins College and a winner in
1968 of the Book-of-the-Month Club Writing Fellowship Contest. The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed, set in a small
southern town at midcentury, tells the story of nine-year-old Susan, for whom the first bright, carefree, promise-filled
days of summer slowly evolve into a time of innocence lost and childhood illusions shattered. Susan's mother is vain and
frivolous, her father loving but distracted, and her sister, several years her senior, is coping with the first stirrings of
serious love. Susan's circle of young friends is joined for the summer by Eugene, the frail, strange nephew of a neighbor.
As the months pass, Susan witnesses the disintegration of her parents' marriage and learns from Eugene the cruelty
people sometimes resort to.
Lyrical and fanciful in spite of its dark moments, The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed puts on ample display the
remarkable talent that has made Lee Smith one of our most popular writers of fiction.
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. Cloth at spine head & foot slightly
discolored. (2196005) $250.00
57. Tan, Amy The Joy Luck Club. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1989. First Edition.
288 pp. 8vo. Author's first book, inspiration for the 1993 film. "A stunning literary
achievement, The Joy Luck Club explores the tender and tenacious bond between four
daughters and their mothers. The daughters know one side of their mothers, but they don't
know about their earlier never-spoken of lives in China. The mothers want love and
obedience from their daughters, but they don't know the gifts that the daughters keep to
themselves. Heartwarming and bittersweet, this is a novel for mother, daughters, and those
that love them." Condition Notes: First edition in first state jacket ($18.95 price). Signed by
author without inscription on title page. Board edges slightly faded, pages faintly toned. DJ
Condition Notes: Top jacket corners faintly rubbed. (2196057) $175.00
23
58. Tyler, Anne Anne Tyler 17-Volume Collection of Signed First Editions, with
Correspondence: The Clock Winder; Celestial Navigation; Searching for Caleb;
Earthly Possessions; Morgan's Passing; Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant; The
Accidental Tourist; Breathing Lessons; Saint Maybe; Your Place is Empty; Tumble
Tower; Ladder of Years; A Patchwork Planet; Back When We Were Grownups; The
Amateur Marriage; Timothy Tugbottom Says No!; Digging to America. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf / G.P. Putnam's Sons / William B. Ewert / Orchard Books. 1972. First
Edition. An impressive collection of novels by the Pulitzer Prize winning author, comprising
all published works released from 1972 to 2006 (and thus missing her first three, and last
four, works), as well as her two juvenile titles. Your Place is Empty is also of particular interest, being an imprint of the
William B. Ewert fine press in Concord, New Hampshire. With the exception of Digging to America, they are all signed
by Anne Tyler directly on the title pages - no small feat considering that, until recently, the author did not make public
appearances or grant interviews. Even sending items to her for the purpose of obtaining signatures was a complicated
process, as illustrated in the four postcards and three greeting cards included here, in which Tyler requests they be sent
such that she can receive them without leaving her home. The original recipient of these also sent the author a number
of gifts, for which she expresses thanks in her correspondence. Condition Notes: First editions. Each (except Digging to
America) signed without inscription by author on title page. The Clock Winder: board edges a bit faded, two tiny spots on
top page ridge. Back When We Were Grownups includes publisher's newsletter (laid in). DJ Condition Notes: Your Place
is Empty: 2 inch tear to base of glassine jacket spine. (2196140) $2,250.00
59. Urquhart, Jane I Am Walking in the Garden of His Imaginary Palace: Eleven
Poems for Le Notre. Toronto: Aya Press (Glynn Davies). 1982. First Edition. [26 ff.]
Oblong: 4 3/4 x 18 1/2. Eleven poems by Jane Urquhart labeled I-XI, with twelve panoramic
illustrations by Tony Urquhart interspersed and labeled separately. Each poem is also
accompanied by a sketch on the same leaf. One of 531 copies, which included 31 deluxe
boxed copies, and 500 casebound copies (the edition offered here). Strangely, though the
limitation page states that all 500 of these were signed, this copy is not. This is one of two
binding variants - the red cloth edition with picture inlay on the front board was released
first, and was bound by Porcupine's Quill in 1982. A grey cloth version was released somewhat later. Condition Notes:
Unsigned. Limited edition, one of 500 casebound copies. An exceptional copy in acetate jacket. (2195947) $175.00
60. Walker, Alice In Love & Trouble: Stories of Black Women. New York: Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich, Inc.. 1973. First Edition. 138 pp. 8vo. A collection of thirteen short
stories exploring the hardships of life as an African American woman in the South.
"Admirers of The Color Purple will find in these stories more evidence of Walker's power to
depict black women-women who vary greatly in background yet are bound together."
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on half-title page. DJ
Condition Notes: White portions of jacket very faintly toned. (2196020) $750.00
24
61. Walker, Alice The Color Purple. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1982. First
Edition. 245 pp. 8vo. "Winner of the National Book Award as well as the Pulitzer Prize, "The
Color Purple" established Alice Walker as a major voice in modern fiction. Her
unforgettable portrait of Celie and her friends, family, and lovers is rich with passion, pain,
inspiration, and an indomitable love of life. Beautifully imagined and deeply compassionate,
"The Color Purple" is a classic of American literature. Alice Walker won the Pulitzer Prize
and the American Book Award for her novel The Color Purple, which was preceded by The
Third Life of Grange Copeland and Meridian. Her other bestselling novels include By the
Light of My Father's Smile, Possessing the Secret of Joy and The Temple of My Familiar.
She is also the author of two collections of short stories, three collections of essays, five
volumes of poetry and several children's books. Her books have been translated into more
than two dozen languages. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, Walker now lives in Northern
California."
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed without inscription by Alice Walker on title page.
Spine head & foot very slightly faded, otherwise no visible flaws; unusually sharp corners, square, tight binding, no
external or internal markings. The best copy we have seen. (2196001) $1,250.00
62. Walker, Alice You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down: Stories. New York: Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich. 1981. First Edition. x, 167 pp. 8vo. A collection of fourteen short stories
by the author who later became a household name with the publication of The Color Purple.
Condition Notes: First edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. Spine
foot faintly pushed. (2196021) $125.00
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